EdNichols

Calibration frustrations!!!

I have calibrated on several occasions and always get a difference in readings between my DVE disk test tones and my receivers test tones. My main and center is about 1 db difference and my surround channels show a 3db difference between the disc and the receiver. Also, when the DVE does the test tone sweep after calibrating each speaker I get fluctuations in the reading of +/- 2 db.

I have pretty much given up on trying to balance my sub. On top of not being able to accurately read my RS meter for LFE since the indicator jumps around so much I understand that the LFE channel on the DVE disc is off and the RS meter is off by a certain amount on low frequencies.
So I essentially don't know what me true LFE reading is.

Does everyone have these problems or is it just me?

WayneO

Just ignore the LFE calibration on DVE and use the receiver's test tones. If your needle jumps so much on your meter, maybe try different placement options to see if it tames any peaks and dips. If not, just try to take an average of the output to calibrate it with the other speakers. You'll at least be in the ballpark and if it sounds to light or heavy to your ears, readjust accordingly. The RS meter does lose accuracy as the frequencies get lower, but the pink noise in the test tones is a combination of frequencies and the RS meter can still measure them fairly accurately even coming from a sub. Good luck.

If the best advice is "listen for yourself", then why offer your opinion?

Jeff Gatie

Receiver tones are notorious for being off and unreliable. Do not worry if the tones are not equal to DVE, that is par for the course. This is why most prefer using a test disk to eliminate the receiver tones and their problems. Make sure you are using "slow" metering for the sub measurements, it tends to minimize needle jump. Even though the meter is off for certain low frequencies, it tends to even out for the pink noise present in test tones. There is another thread recently started about the sub tones in DVE that gives a compensation factor for the incorrect tones that supposedly comes from Joe Kane himself.